1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to play structures for children, and in particular to collapsible play tunnel structures through which children can crawl or climb therethrough. In their normal expanded configurations, the tunnel structures define a plurality of tunnel pathways. The tunnel structures may also be collapsed and folded into a compact configuration for easy transportation and storage.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Two important considerations for all toys or play things targeted for children are convenience and variety. Relating to convenience, a toy must be easily transportable so that the child can move it around the home, or even to other places outside of the home. A toy must also be easily stored since a child is likely to have many other toys that compete for precious storage space in the home. As for variety, a toy must offer enough variety in play so that the child will be able to enjoy it for a long period of time without getting bored.
Larger toys often pose a greater problem with regards to convenience. The larger toys tend to be bulky, which makes it difficult to move them around the home, and sometimes makes it prohibitive to move them outside the house to other locations. Bulky toys also take up much storage space.
In the past, attempts have been made to provide play structures for the entertainment of children. Such play structures have been provided in many different shapes and sizes. For example, some have been shaped as playhouses to allow children to climb into and out of the structure. However, in order to provide a structure that can temporarily house a child, such a structure must be quite large and would be difficult to transport and store.
Another type of play structure that has been popular with children is a play tunnel. These play tunnels provide a long passageway or tunnel through which a child can crawl. These play tunnels are normally made by wrapping a piece of fabric about a helically-shaped metal loop, with the loop defining the shape of the tunnel. Since the metal loop is helical, the tunnel may be collapsed into a smaller configuration by pressing both ends of the tunnel against each other, and then tying both ends together. Unfortunately, these play tunnels do not provide much variety in play to the child, because it is either difficult or not possible to create a number of different passageways for the child to climb therethrough. Therefore, the child may become bored with a conventional play tunnel after a short period of time.
Thus, there remains a need for a play tunnel which may be adapted at the child's discretion to assume a plurality of different configurations for increased variety of play, and is convenient to use, to transport, and to store.